My body makes me happy My lyf maak my gelukkig.

* Please scroll down for translation in English.

This blog was written in Afrikaans by me and translated by my mom, with the help of Google Translate, Lisa and Ricardo. Thank you for your effort to help me reach more people by translating my words. I appreciate your effort.

My lyf maak my bly

My lyf is my grootste struikelblok. My lyf maak my baie kwaad.  Maar soms gebeur daar goed wat my weer laat hoop kry. Al is hierdie goed nie baie belangrik vir ander mense nie, vir my is dit groot. Ons maak ‘n groot bohaai oor hierdie goed wat ander sal mis kyk. Daar is ‘n goeie rede vir die groot bohaai. My mooiste is ook as my gesin my goeie oomblikke saam met my vier.

My lyf is nie nou net sleg nie want my lyf is tog die ding wat my instaat stel om te kan kommunikeer al is dit nie met my mond soos ander mense dit doen nie. My lyf is ‘n  woorde-maker deurdat ek op die borde spel of skryf saam met my mamma.

Die soveelste mooiste ding wat onlangs gebeur het, is dat ek dit kon regkry om my mamma te wys dat ek iets wil sê. Sy hou haar gewoonlik gereed om my te help om te kommunikeer, maar as my lyf nie tot by haar kan kom om te wys dat ons moet gesels nie, dan weet sy nie dat ek wil praat nie.

So, om haar te beduie dat my lyf nou wil gehelp word om te gesels, is ‘n baie belangrike stap vir my, want dan kan my lyf my help om te praat wanneer ek wil en nie net wanneer iemand my n kans gee om te praat nie. Om heeltemal onafhanklik van hulp te kan kommunikeer is n droom wat my  soveel nagte al laat wakker skrik het. Dit is nou my grootste droom om dit te kan bereik. Ons is baie verseker nog n stappie nader aan die realiseering van daardie mooi droom.

Ons is besig om voort te bou op my kommunikasie “skills”. Dit is harde werk om my kommunikasie “skills” uit te brei.  Ons was so bly toe ek dit kon regkry om te wys op die borde wat ek wil sê. Dit het lank gevat vir my om te vorder van my eerste woord op die borde tot waar ek alles wat ek wil sê kon spel of skryf. Dit was baie harde werk. Ons moes baie oefen. Maar dit was die moeite werd. Ons kan dit maar vir die wêreld uit basuin dat om te spel op die borde is harde werk, maar NIKS is meer die moeite werd as om dit te kon regkry nie.

Dit is ‘n baie belangrike ding vir nie-praters om te onthou. Kommunikasie is nie maklik vir ons wat nie stemme het nie, maar dit is beslis moontlik.

Om my lewe sonder kommunikasie te kon agter laat moes daar iemand gewees het wat my aanhou help het. My mamma was daardie persoon. Dit is al hoekom my kommunikasie gevorder het tot waar ons vandag is.

My mamma het nie moed opgegee toe dit baie swaar gegaan het met my nie.

 Sy het aanhou werk al het dit vreeslik rof gegaan by tye. Sy het swaar gekry. Dit is n donker tyd vir ons al twee gewees toe sy my moes help om te leer spel op die borde. So, vir my is dit altyd baie swaar as ons nie vir my vriende, wat ook nie-praters is,  ‘n mamma of n ander persoon wat soos my mamma is, kan “organize” nie. Dit breek my hart as my vriende nie iemand het wat hulle aanhou help wanneer dit swaar gaan nie.  My hart sukkel baie oor dit nie vir hulle beskore is om ook so ‘n iemand te hê wat hulle bystaan nie.

Om vir my vriende te help, moet hulle ook iemand hê wat bereid is om vas te byt deur die swaar tye.

Ons kan getuig dat dinge beter sal raak as hulle nou net vas byt. Maar ons bly hoop dat almal uiteindelik gehelp sal word.

My stem sal nooit ophou om te praat oor die verskil wat kommunikasie in my lewe gemaak het nie in die hoop dat my storie ander sal inspireer om ook deur te druk as dit swaar gaan.

*My body makes me happy.

My body is my biggest obstacle. My body makes me very angry. But sometimes things happen that gives me hope again. Even if these things are not very important to other people, to me they are huge. We make a big fuss about this stuff that others will miss. There is a good reason for the big fuss. My best is also when my family celebrates my good moments with me.

My body is not just bad because my body is the thing that enables me to communicate, even if it is not with my mouth as other people do. My body is a word-maker because I spell or write on the boards with my mom.

The most beautiful thing that happened recently is that I managed to show my mom that I wanted to say something. She usually keeps herself ready to help me communicate, but if my body can’t reach her to show that we need to talk, then she doesn’t know that I want to talk.

So, signaling to her that my body now wants to be helped to speak is a very important step for me, because then my body can help me to speak when I want to and not only when someone gives me a chance to speak . Being able to communicate completely independently of help is a dream that has woken me up so many nights. It is now my biggest dream to be able to achieve it.

We are building on my communication skills. It is hard work to expand my communication skills. We were so happy when I managed to point to the boards what I wanted to say. It took a long time for me to progress from my first word on the board to where I could spell or write everything I wanted to say. It was very hard work. We had to practice a lot. But it was worth it. We can only trumpet it to the world that spelling on the boards is hard work, but NOTHING is more worth the effort than being able to get it right.

This is a very important thing for non-speakers to remember. Communication is not easy for us who do not have voices, but it is certainly possible.

To be able to leave my life without communication behind there must have been someone who continued to help me. My mom was that person. This is why my communication has progressed to where we are today.

My mom didn’t give up when things were really hard for me.

She continued to work even though it was terribly rough at times. She suffered. It was a dark time for both of us when she had to help me learn to spell on the boards. So, for me it’s always very hard if we can’t “organize” for my friends, who are also non-speakers, a mom or another person who is like my mom. It breaks my heart when my friends don’t have someone to keep helping them when the going gets tough. My heart struggles a lot because they are not destined to have someone like that who assists them.

To help my friends, they also need someone who is willing to stick with them through the hard times.

We can testify that things will get better if they just bite the bullet. But we keep hoping that eventually everyone will be helped.

My voice will never stop talking about the difference communication has made in my life in the hope that my story will inspire others to push through when the going gets tough.